The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-08-25
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourse Of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
Subjects "Conccrning the mig.
Ots."

lAen they took him and Sleip him at the pas
sages of Jordan, Judges xii, 0.
Do you notice the difference of pronuncia'
ton between shibboleth and sibbo!ethf A
very small and unimportant difference, you
say, And yet that difference was the differ
ence between life and death for a great many
people, The Lords people, sGilead and
Ephraim, got into n great fight, and Ephraim
was worsted, and ON the retreat came
to the fords of the river Jordan to
cross. Order wasgiSen that all Euphraim-
ties coming there should be slain. But how
could IL be found out who We're
Ephrainites' They were detected by their
pronunciation. Shibboleth was a word that
stood for river, The Ephraimites had
bogue of their own, and when they tried to
say shibboleth always left out the sound of
the 81" When it was asked that they say
shibboleth they said sibboleth and were slain,
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibbo-
leth and he said Sibboleth, for he could not
frame to pronounce it right Then they took
him and slew him at the passage of Jordan"
Avery small difference, you say, between
Gilead and Ephraim, and vet how much in-
tolerance about that small difference, The
Lords tribe in our timely which | mean
the different denominations of Christians
sometimes magnify very small difference,
and the only difference between scores of de-
nominations to day is the difference between
shihboleth and sibboleth.
The church of God is divided into great
number OF denominations Time would fail
me to tell of the Calvinists, and the Armin-
ians and the Sabbatarians, and the Baxter
ians, and the DunSers, and the Shakers, and
the Quakers, and the Methoiis.s, and the
Baptists, and the Episcopa,ians and the
Lutherans, and the Congregationaists, and
the Presbyterians, and the Sp;ritualists, and
score of other denominations of relgionisss,
some of them founded BY very good men,
some OF them founded by very egotistic men,
and some of them founded by very bad men.
But as demand for myself liberty of con
science, l must give that same liberty to
every other man, remembering that he no
more differs from me than differ from him.
advocate the largest liberty In all religious
belief anu form of worship In art, in
politics, in morals, and in religion let there
DE no gag law, no moving of the previous
question, no persecution, no intolerance.
You know that the air and the Water keen
pure by constant circulation and | think
there is tendency in religious discussion to
purilication and moral health. Between the
Fourth and the Sixteenth centuries the church
proposed TO make people think alright by pro-
hibiting discussion and by strong censorship
OF The press, and by rack, and gibbet, and
hot lead down the throat tried to make peo-
pie orthodox; but it was discovered that you
cannot change mans belief by twisting
oil his head, and that you cannot make man
see things differently by putting an awl
Through his eyes, There is something in A
mans conscience which will hurl off the
mountain that you throw uron it, aud un-
slnged of the fire, out of the flame will make
red wings on which the martyr will mount to
glory.
In that time ofwhich speak, between the
Fourth and Sixteenth centuries, people went
from the house of God into the most appal-
ing lnlqulty, and right along by consecrated
aloars there we're tides of drunkenness and
righteousness such as the world never heard
Oh, and the very sewers of perdition broke
loose loose op'. Hooded the church. After while
s .he ?; nting press was freed and it broke the
su'ckles OF tho human mind. Then there
came large number of bad books but where
there was one man hostile to the Christian
relglon there were twenty men ready to adj
vocate 1t; so have not any nervousness in
regard to this battle going on between truth
ami error.
The truth will conquer just as certainly as
that God Is stronger than the devil. Let
error run If you only let truth run along
with it. Urged on by skeptics shout and
Observation-Disclosures spur, let it ruin Gods
angels of wrath are in hot pursuit, and
quicker than eagles beak catches out a
hawKs heart Gods vengeance will tear it to
pieces.
lpropose this morning to speak to you of sec
OTIgltl, luS evils ana us CURSES
Ihere are those who would make us think
that this monster, with horns and hoofs,
rs religion. | shall chase it to its hiding
place, and drag it out of the caverns OF
darkness and rip off his hide. But want to
make q distinction between bigotry and the
LAWFUL fondness for peculiar religious beliefs
and forms Of worship. have no admiration
for Eothingarian.
In word Of such tremendous vicissitude
and temptation, and with soul that must
after while stand before a throne of insult
ferlble brightness. i'll day when the rock
ing of the mount ms and the flaming of thu
heavens and the uoheaval of the sea shall be
among the least of the excitements, to giv'
account for every thought, word, action
preference and dis,ike-that man is mad who
has no religious preference. But our early
education, our physical temperament, oul
mental constitution will very much decide
our form of worship.
A style of psamody that may please me
may displease you Some would like to have
minister in gown, and bands and surplice
and others prefer to have minister in plair
citizens apparel. Some are most impressed
when little child presented at the alta
and sprlnkled with the waters Of holy bene
diction "in the name of the Father and o.
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" and Others
are more impressed when the penitent comes
up out of the river, his garments dripping
with the waters of a baptism which signifies
the washing away of sin. Let either have
his own way. One man likes no noise il
prayer, not a word, not whisper. Another
man just as good prefers by gesticulation anc
exclamation to express his devotional aspira
lions. One is just as good as the other
every man fully persuaded in his owl
mind"
George Whitefeld was going over Quake
rather roughly for some of his religious senti
,fc md fban I'm coiI T
as thou art: am for bringing all men to tn
hope of the Gospel; therefore, if thou wilt no
quarrel with me about my broad brim, will
not quarrel with thee about thy black gown
George, give me thy hand"
l. In tracing out the religion of sectarian
ism, or bigotry, find that great deal of i
comes from wrong education in the HON
circle. There are parents who do not thin
it wrong to caricature and jeer the peculia
forms of religion in the world and denounc
other sectS and other denominations. 1t
very often the case that that kind of educa
tion acts justs opposite to what was expected
and the children grow up and after Will
go and see for themselves; and looking il
those churches, and finding that the peopl
are good there and they love God and kee
his commandments, by natural reaction the
go and join those very churches. | coul
mention the names of prominent ministers Q
the gospel who spent their whole lives bon
harding other denominations, and who live
TO see their children preach the Gospel
those very denominations But it is often tn
case that bigotry starts in household an
that the subject Of it never RECEIVERS. Their
are tens of thousands Of bigots 10 years old
think sectarianism and bigotry also ris
from too great prominence of any one de
nomination in community. All the othe
denominations are wrong, and his denomina
ton is right because his denomination is th
most wealthy, or the most popular, or tn
most influential, and it is "our" church, an
"our" religious organization, and "our" choil
and "our" minister, and the man losses hi
head and wants other denominations to kno'
their places. 1t is a great deal better in an
community when the great denominations c
Christians are about equal in power, march
ing side by side for the worlds conquest
Mere outside prosperity mere worldly power
is no evidence that the church is acceptabl
to God. Better barn with Christ in th
manager than a cathedral with magnificer
harmonies rolling through the long draw
aisles and an angel from heaven in the pulp
if there is no Christ in the chancel and n
Christ in the robes. Bigotry is often the chill
of ignorance.
You seldom find a man with large lnteliet
who is bigot. 1t is the man who thinks
knows great deal but does not. That ma
is almost always bigot. The whole tendenc
Of education and civilization is to bring